Saturday, August 24, 2013

It was supposed to be a week of simply being, of living in the moment, and enjoying every minute while it lasted. Of course, that kind of intoxication can have lingering effects. For Sin, she found herself wanting to break all the rules, to extend her time with the stranger who stole her heart. Vegas was just the right kind of place to take such a gamble. Meeting up with BE at the gondolas was a risk. Love went against everything they had promised, but the best things in life can't be planned.

Soon Alysin will be tested.

After guarding her heart for so long, she finally let a man in and discovered that the worst things in life happened when she least expected them. When she walked in on BE with another woman and overheard their heated conversation, she suddenly remembered there was a reason she made these rules.

Will broken rules lead to broken hearts or will she realize that though love was a gamble, she was all in?

How else was she going to parlay her two favorite past times into a career?

Emma is single and loving it. Like her first character, Alysin, Sin for short, she doesn't believe in settling or in settling down. She loves to indulge in her passions whenever the mood strikes and enjoys keeping all of life's cliche moments spicy.

Known for her sense of humor, Emma surrounds herself with friends whose antics often become the source of book fodder. Her ideal situation would be to explore the Caribbean while writing. She pursues that dream daily.

Excerpt:The water was just starting to boil when my phone rang. I rushed to the bedroom because…well, how often does a phone ring jut after 4am? It could be an emergency. It could be a prank call. Or, according to the picture that glowed on my screen, it could be Jolie calling to cheer me up. That warmed me instantly.“Hey, girl,” I said, all out of breath from my sprint for the phone. You may recall, I am not a jogger.“Hey, sexy,” he breathed into the phone.It took me a minute to process just whom I was speaking to. Then the tears started. Actually, it was more of a waterfall effect. Then came the snot. “Oh my god! It’s YOU! And you’re on Jolie’s phone!” I started sniffling while I wiped away the tears and tried my best to hold myself together.“Yes, babe. It’s me. Jolie called me. It’s a three way. You know. Again,” he joked.I giggled.“Are you crying?” He asked concerned.“No,” I lied. “Must be a cold.”“Good, I don’t want you crying, especially when I can’t be there to comfort you.” He spoke soothingly into the phone and it reminded me of all those nights snuggled in his arms, talking, and making love. “What’s going on? One day apart and you’ve already decided not to meet me?” He asked.My chest constricted. It hurt so much. My voice caught in my throat. “I don’t know how to do this. I’ve never done this before,” I whispered hoarsely.“What? You’ve never made plans a week in advance? You’ve never moved?” He asked questions he already knew the answers to just to make me think.“I’ve never been in love,” I admitted. “I’m scared of losing me to be with you.” I was silent after that admission. It took a lot for me to share that.“Well, if it makes you feel any better…I don’t make a habit of falling in love. I tried it once. It didn’t go the way I expected. I’ve been a little gun shy ever since. For you, I’d take a bullet. You are a once in a lifetime kind of love,” he said quietly. “Promise me,you’ll meet me.”This conversation was what I needed. Jolie had found the perfect way to soothe my soul and settle my nerves. No wonder she was my BFF. “Hmmm. I suppose I could promise you,” I began playfully, “but what good are promises with you? Here we are, talking on the phone…”“I’ll have you know I thought this through. I’ve broken no rules.You don’t have my name or my contact information. Jolie does. So there.” He chuckled at his own cleverness.I couldn’t help but laugh. “And you think this information is safe with Jolie? You think I couldn’t get it from her if I wanted?” I asked.His deep sexy voice responded, “Yes, that is precisely what I think. Jolie loves you. Jolie even seems to be rather fond of me and she thinks we make a phenomenal couple. So let’s stick to our rules for now. And when I see you on Saturday, you’ll discover what a big, bad rule breaker I am. Just wait for me until then. If one of us needs to, we have Jolie to reach out for us.” He was silent for a moment. So was I as I considered all he had said. “I love you, baby,” he said. “Saturday, I’ll be waiting for you.”“Saturday,” I murmured. “I’m going to rock your world.”“Babe,” he said seriously, “you already have.”

So Mimi and Scooby took the opportunity to review Vixen in Vegas on behalf of the Bad Girls Team. Keep reading to see what their thoughts were!Mimi

This is the first Emma Nichols novel I have read. I enjoyed the premise & storyline quite a bit. It is a tale of romance that will have you laughing, cheering & praying for the characters, BE & Sin. I found out there is a prequel novella to this that I haven't read but did understand most of the plot to "Vixen in Vegas". I do recommend reading "Sin at Sea" first to have a better understanding.

Sin (Alysin) & her BFF, Jolie have just returned home from a week long cruise. While on the cruise Sin meets a man, BE, who sweeps her off her feet & they fall in love. Sin lives in Raleigh, NC. BE lives in California & he is everything a man should be. Sin has spent her life running from love & relationships with men. BE seems to be perfect, someone she could spend her life with. Even though they know very little about one another, including names, they decide to spend another week together, this time in Vegas.

Sin & Jolie have been friends since high school & spent the last ten years moving every few years. It was time for a move, Vegas was as good a place as any other. So Sin places her house on the market & storage in PODS, the girls take a trip across the country to meet up with BE. He is waiting for Sin in Vegas where they spend the week getting to know one another. This is where the plot unfolds into an emotional & touching story. BE asks Sin to spend a few days at his Cali home where his sister, Brenda also lives. The couple falls further in love with one another only to find there is a threat that could separate them forever. As I neared the end of the story I thought there may be a cliffhanger or there would be a tragically abrupt ending. I did find it to be a bit rushed & would have like to have had more meat to the end. Oh well, maybe there will be another to come.

I enjoyed the novel as there was plenty of steamy sex but not without endearing love scenes.

So I mistakenly read this story thinking it was a standalone. I was 70% into the read when I discovered there was a prologue Novella. Now I don’t know if that was my poor preparation or being a little misled by the description on Goodreads. What I need to say at the outset is DO NOT READ ‘VIXEN IN VEGAS’ WITHOUT READING ‘SIN AT SEA’ FIRST. This is vitally important. If you don’t heed this advice Vixen in Vegas will barely make sense to you as you read it.

Ok so having read Vixen in Vegas first, this review will seem somewhat critical, but I hope that these insights are seen as constructive. These are the elements that to me, would limit the author’s audience reach.

It took over 1 ½ Chapters for me to learn the name of the main character, and about as long (maybe not quite as long) to figure out her gender. The book picks up with the main character, who I eventually learned was Alysin, Sin for short, and her BFF Jolie preparing to move to Las Vegas, with the intention of Sin meeting up with a mystery man she had met on a cruise known as BE. At no point in the book do I learn what BE stood for, but gee it was lucky that it was also his initials, unbeknownst to Sin. Ben Everly is the lead man in this story, but we don’t learn his name until sometime later.

So Sin and BE have met on a week-long cruise where they spent the week living in the moment and being fake married. There were rules of their relationship, however, these were not spelt out in Vixen in Vegas, except it became clear that they did not know each other’s names, nor did they have contact details for each other. BE however, did have Jolie’s contact number so he could keep in touch with Sin without breaking the rules.

Essentially Vixen in Vegas is Sin and BE’s story of how they reach their HEA. It is a journey not without obstacles with significant life decisions having to be made. I cannot say too much more as this would mean spoilers and you will need to read Vixen in Vegas yourself to see how it unfolds. What can be said is that Sin has a reputation for running away whenever her heart becomes involved, so the personal journey she goes on to trust and love is huge one.

Unfortunately with or without having read Sin at Sea, the writing style of Vixen in Vegas did not do it for me. I struggled to feel the emotion that was intended with this story, and I found this story so cliché that I didn’t believe it, nor could the author do the elements of this story justice in a book this length (Amazon has it at approx. 220pgs). There is so much thrown into this tale that in order for it to be felt it needed much more time to develop and be explored. The sex scenes also did not do it for me either, I think it was the style of writing rather than the intent, but it didn’t ‘float my boat’.

I would give Vixen in Vegas

Now….

Having read Sin at Sea, if I had read them in order, the issues I found lacking in Vixen in Vegas would still have existed, but I would have understood the dynamics so much more. The questions that I had been asking all through Vixen in Vegas, I would have had the answers. Sin at Sea very clearly explained how the relationship came to be, what the rules were, and how they fell in love. So when in Vixen they kept mentioning renegotiating their agreement, at least I would have known what the agreement was!!

Sin at Sea is approx. 114 pages, it has HOT sex scenes (including F/F, F/F/M and F/F/M/M) and it has an emotional ability to connect with the reader. Unfortunately it almost seems like the two stories were written by different people, their style was that different.

I understand that the two stories do have significantly different premises, Sin at Sea is about a rebound relationship with no strings so anything goes, and Vixen in Vegas is about taking that relationship, adding the strings, and throwing in the emotion of a real loving relationship. However, the similar elements (ie: the sex, the dynamics between Sin and Jolie, and Sin and BE) were so far removed from each other, it made no connection for me in Vixen.

That said, if you were to read them in order, and in quick succession you may very well have as positive experience with Vixen as I did with Sin at Sea.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

In the international bestseller REAL, the unstoppable bad boy of the Underground fighting circuit finally met his match. Hired to keep him in prime condition, Brooke Dumas unleashed a primal desire in Remington “Riptide” Tate as vital as the air he breathes . . . and now he can’t live without her. Brooke never imagined she would end up with the man who is every woman’s dream, but not all dreams end happily ever after, and just when Remington needs her the most, Brooke makes a discovery that forces her away from the ringside. Now with distance and darkness between them, the only thing left is to fight for the love of the man she calls MINE.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

So how did I get myself into this situation, you ask? Simple: desperation. When you're faced with being homeless and hungry or taking off your clothes for money, the choice is easier than you'd imagine. That doesn't make it easy, though. Oh no. I hate it, in fact. There's nothing I'd like more than to quit and never go into another bar again, never hear the techno beat pulsing in my ears again, never feel the lecherous gazes of horny men again.

Then, one day, I meet a man. He's in my club, front and center. He watches me do my routine, and his gaze is full of hunger. Not the kind of desire I'm used to though. It's something different. Something hotter, deeper, and more possessive. I know who he is; of course I do. Everyone knows who Dawson Kellor is. He's People Magazine's Sexiest Man alive. He's the hottest actor in Hollywood. He's the man hand-picked for the role of Rhett Butler in the long-awaited remake of Gone With the Wind.

He's the kind of man who can have any woman in the entire world with a mere crook of his finger. So what's he doing looking at me like he has to have me? And how do I resist him when he looks at me with those intoxicating, changeable, quicksilver eyes?

I'm a virgin, and he's an American icon of male sexuality. I'm a stripper, and he's a man used to getting anything and everything he wants. And he wants me. I know I should say no, I know he's the worst kind of player…but what my mind knows, my body and my heart may not.

And then things get complicated.

Kimmy's Review **May contain Spoilers**

Let me just say Jasinda knows how to take a tough topic and make a story of it. It’s not an easy thing to do by bringing up things like extreme religious views, and stripping.

I was super excited about this one cause let’s face Jasinda rocks. But this one just fell flat for me. I thought the story was slow at first and didn’t start getting to the point till the middle of book. Grey comes from an extremely religious family from the south and has been sheltered her whole life. Her mother is understands her and helps her, encourages her to spread her wings and follow her dreams.

Then her mother starts getting headaches goes to the hospital, next chapter her mother had many rounds of chemo and is on her death bed. Yeah it’s sad but with the time laps it’s missing the emotion of her mother’s death. Then Grey just ups and leaves going off to Los Angeles against her father. And Grey’s father is a pastor of a Southern Baptist church he definitely over the top it almost piss you off.

So Grey is in Cali trying to make it and her school scholarship all used up after 2 years of being there. Again time jump. So no one is hiring and she finds a strip club that is so she applies. I do like that Jasinda showed us that these strippers are real people just trying to make it. It’s not their choice for the job but it helps explain that there is more to them, they are a mother and homes.

So Grey meets Dawson at the strip club, electricity immediately. Grey is a film student and has to work as an intern on a film set and she has to be Dawson’s assistant. He feels the same thing for her. And then it’s just this big chase her running from him and him always chasing her. She is young that’s what I have to tell myself to keep myself from getting pissed off at this girl.

She finally decides to be with Dawson they have sex no, make love and it’s her first time. They have glorious sex for the next couple days. Then guess what she runs again all the way back to Georgia. While in Georgia she makes amends with her father. And then guess what time jump again she is back in Cali with Dawson at an awards show which is later down the road. And you can’t forget that on his birthday she begged him to fuck her in the ass for his birthday. Strange I thought.

But unfortunately the book just didn’t do it for me. It was all over the place and felt that it jumped too much.

I say 5 horndogs for me. Boo!

Scooby's Review

Having reviewed Falling Into You for the Bad Girls July group review, I am a definite fan of Jasinda Wilder’s work. I have a number of her books on my TBR and cannot wait to get to them!

Having the opportunity to review Stripped as an ARC, had me almost salivating! What a story idea, Grey, daughter of a Baptist Church Pastor with inflexible views of anything outside of the faith, heading off to become a virginal stripper! Oh the places this story could go!

A bit of background. Grey’s identity in her home town of Macon is that of the off limits pastors daughter. She loves to dance, but her father views this as sinful. Her mum, who is her best friend, helps her find herself, by supporting Grey to explore her love of dance and the arts. Grey also becomes a fan of film making and has a natural talent in dance and expression through film.

The story unfolds as events take a turn for the worse in Grey’s life, and she leaves home to head for college, against the wishes of her father. As a result of her desire to follow this path, he basically disowns her and she has to make it on her own. Luckily Mum helped her with her applications and she got a scholarship for tuition, room and board.

Then the money runs out….

What else is a girl with no employment skills and no money to do – well she can dance….

So the only job she can get is at a seedy ‘gentlemens’ club as a stripper! Grey feels great shame at this employment, but has no alternative.

Lucky she meets Dawson at the club…..

Grey also manages to get an internship at a film production company, and gets assigned to be an assistant to a huge movie star…. Yep …. Dawson….

The relationship build between Grey and Dawson is essentially a game of catch and kiss. He catches her, kisses her, she runs away for him to catch her again! It’s a cycle. The premise of this, is that Grey’s feelings for Dawson scare her because a) she is a virgin and he is a sex god movie star and b) they are sinful.

Dawson has a playboy/bad boy image and reputation, but he seems determined to give that all up for Grey. I’ll stop there with the recount, because it’s no fun when there are spoilers!!

I really struggled to write this review because I wanted to love this story so, so much and I just didn’t! I found no emotional connection with the characters at all. Nothing! Grey was gray … and almost one dimensional. For a character that has SO MUCH potential to connect with the reader, so many layers within her character waiting to be explored.. she just seemed superficial. Her innocence and naivety was not believable, her sexuality was a contradiction which confused me (I mean I think I understand that it was intended to be a contradiction, because she was viewed as an innocent but highly sensual being). It didn’t work. And, I’m sorry but her sexual journey… wow – really? Sensual or not, I am not sure I buy the pace at which she excelled at and explored this activity!

Dawson was the same for me… sure he was movie star sexy, and loaded… but his character, which had so much potential also fell flat. He was a troubled star, and we caught a glimpse of his life before fame, and his rationale behind his actions…. But it felt like it was words on a page, not an emotional story to be told. His dominant behaviours conflicted with the thought that he needed Grey to be dominate and assertive, it seemed like confused character traits.

The biggest disappointment in this story for me was the nature of the jumping storyline and narrative. There are massive time gaps with no lead in to this. I could give many examples but these would mean spoilers, the best way I could explain it would be: end of chapter is present day, start of next chapter story continues but you find out it is 1 year later. I found that these time jumps also occurred with significant storylines, that had they been further explored would have given the characters more depth. Instead I was left going “what?” “So what happened with this? When was that meant to happen?”

It seemed like this was intentional to ensure nothing detracted from Grey and Dawson’s story – only these elements were all a part of their story, and what made them, them.

The only thing I could put my disappointment down to, was maybe this story was written in a hurry. It was like, start at the start age 15 for Grey, and BOOM – happy ever after before you know it!

It sucks that I have to do this to one of Jasinda’s books, because I think she is super awesome and creative, but Stripped doesn’t get higher than 6 Horndogs for me – the story was adequate and I was left disappointed.

About Jasinda Wilder

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jasinda Wilder is a Michigan native with a penchant for titillating tales about sexy men and strong women. When she’s not writing, she’s probably shopping, baking, or reading.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

So this is like one of the best jobs EVER, in July we had some time with Colton Calloway...

... in August we get to have a one on one with..

ASHER LOGAN!

Oh man....this guy is HOT HOT HOT!!!

If you haven't already.. meet who Lola D envisages as Asher *sigh*

OK! So Asher is the amazing gorgeous man in Lexi Ryan's Unbreak Me.

BOOK SUMMARY:

“If you’re broken, I’ll fix you…”

I’m only twenty-one and already damaged goods. A slut. A failure. A disappointment to my picture-perfect family as long as I can remember. I called off my wedding to William Bailey, the only man who thought I was worth fixing. A year later, he’s marrying my sister. Unless I ask him not to…

“If you shatter, I’ll find you…”

But now there’s Asher Logan, a broken man who sees the fractures in my façade and doesn’t want to fix me at all. Asher wants me to stop hiding, to stop pretending. Asher wants to break down my walls. But that means letting him see my ugly secrets and forgiving him for his.

With my past weighing down on me, do I want the man who holds me together or the man who gives me permission to break?

We rated 'Unbreak Me' a massive 9 Horndogs! Go on, get your hands on it... you know you want to!!NOW BACK TO ASHER and the fact that his hotness spent some time with the Bad Girls..He gave us 10 questions... we gave him some food for thought from our friends!

1.Hello Asher! Let me just start off by letting you know that I absolutely love you and if ever Ms. Maggie becomes too much for you, you can call me! Just kidding, I know you love Maggie with every fiber of your being. So, Maggie saw you by the river and you could have easily told her to get lost but you didn’t. She was in your pool and you could have asked her to get out but you didn’t. She came with a lot of issues and baggage so why or what about her made it you not able to stay away? ~ Asked by Kim

Not a chance, girl. Maggie’s my one and only.

It’s easy for me to say no to women who throw themselves at me. Let’s be honest, I’ve gotten a lot of practice in this business. But I was drawn to Maggie from that first time I met her by the river. Well, both first times... But the day of her sister’s wedding? There was something about those Pippi Longstocking freckles that contrasted with that smart mouth. I couldn’t resist. Add to the mix the look in her eyes when Will joined us by the river and I had to know more. I knew she was hiding so much of herself, and I wanted to be the one she let in to see it.

Ha! I’m a boxer-briefs man.

3.Did you ever think of the girl by the dock after taking her to hospital? ~Asked by Jade

I did, especially at first. There I was, moving to my house in New Hope in an attempt to stay out of trouble, sober for the first time in years, desperately doing everything in my power not to lose my child, and there’s this woman who… Well, you know the rest.

4.What were your emotions when you saw Maggie and Will kissing outside the house warming party that night? ~Asked by Kimberly

Not pretty. Getting sober was a bitch, but up to then staying sober hadn’t been too bad. Not fighting had been pretty easy. But that night I was ready to drink or introduce Will to my fist. Or, fuck, let’s be honest, both.

5.Firstly Asher, if you ever fancy a younger woman with a British accent, I'm your girl, LOL!!! Ok so my question is… How come you never really got angry with Maggie? She let Will kiss her at the housewarming, then when you asked her if she still loved him, she couldn't answer you because she still did at that point in time and wasn’t able to open up. You never once lost your temper with her, how is that? Is it that Maggie could do no wrong in your eyes or do you have the patience of a saint? ~Asked by Bobbie

Ha! Thanks, Bobbie. We just won’t tell Maggie you offered because she definitely doesn’t have the patience of a saint. But me? I don’t know. I’ve never been the patient sort, but I knew losing my temper wasn’t what was going to earn Maggie’s trust. And, above all else, I wanted her.

Maybe it was easy for me, fucked up as my life has been, to understand Maggie’s life and mind and heart were pretty fucked up too.

6.It's mentioned in the book that you have piercings, where are they exactly (please say below the waistline somewhere)? ~Asked by Kelsey

We’ll just let you imagine whatever you like, Kelsey.

7.How hard was it to resist Maggie's advances in the beginning of your relationship?

Physically painful. You have no idea.

8.When Maggie made breakfast for you, she made sexual advances toward you including waiting for you in the shower. You walked away and said that was on your top ten of hardest things to do. What were some of the other top ten? ~Asked by Nella

I don’t like to dwell on all that, but I’ll gladly share one: Leaving New York to live in my house in New Hope was extremely difficult for me. I didn’t want to be away from Zoe. But I knew I had to get out of that environment if I was going to clean up my life, and if I didn’t want to lose Zoe, I had to clean up my life.

9.When did you know you were in love with Maggie? ~Asked by Nella

Probably the night I saw her kissing Will. That should have been it for me. With any other woman, that’s when I would have checked out. But when I didn’t walk away or take a swing at Will…or take a drink… I knew then.

But then, this summer, Maggie and Zoe met for the first time. Damn. I thought I had it bad before… That woman is fucking amazing and more than I ever could have hoped for.

10. Do you ever feel you’ll fall into the dark side of your music again? LOVED your song for Maggie BTW. Swoon. ~Asked by Lauren

Thanks. I’m a fan of that song myself.

I’m a little nervous about going on tour for the first time since I got clean, but I know Maggie will keep me grounded. And my reward will be coming home to her and getting the summer with her and Zoe.

We thank Lexi Ryan for making us fall in love with Asher, and co-ordinating this chat! Be sure to check out the links below and get your hands on Unbreak Me, the Bad Girls are collectively pretty damn sure you won't be sorry!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Jessica Harper is the epitome of perfection. She’s a good daughter, makes excellent grades, and always strays on the safe side of life. The last thing she thought would ever happen was falling in love with her best friend’s brother. But sometimes fate just has a way of bringing two people together. Wide receiver for the University of Arizona, Gabe Garcia, seems to have it all. When his feelings for Jessica come to surface, Gabe will give up everything to be with her. But what happens when a tragedy abruptly changes the course of your life? For Jessica and Gabe, everything they thought they knew about each other will be questioned. Sometimes, there are scars in life that are cut too deep to completely heal. Will their love prove to be unbreakable, or will it shatter and prove fate is just another lie?

Kimmy's thoughts:

Unbreakable is Rebecca Shea’s debut novel and let me tell you this woman has a true talent. So you will need to add this to your to read list, if you haven’t already.

It is such a great love story. A story about young love, soul mates who have the promise of forever. Everything is as it should be a perfect love but one moment changes everything. And now everything is not as perfect as it seemed. That moment changed the course of their lives.

Jess needs to get away almost like she is running away to put herself back together, to find herself again. And I’m not going to say anymore about the story, you’ll just have to read it.

This book is well written and an easy read. The story line starts off young a little slow but it’s just to give you the connection to the characters. The characters are easy to love and seem real. There was one word that was not capitalized at the beginning of the sentence, hopefully it’s a kindle thing and not an editing thing.

It is such an amazing story. I will definitely have my eye out for Rebecca Shea.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Unbreak Me

by Lexi Ryan

The Bad Girls team collectively review a book once a month.

Our August review gave us the chance to meet Maggie, Asher and Will from Unbreak Me. Lexi Ryan was a new author for the team to read.

So it was an exciting opportunity to see how we would find this piece of work.

Keep reading to see the team's thoughts on Unbreak Me,

but before you do - if you haven't read it yet,

here is a teaser (and slightly explicit) trailer created by our very own uber talented Ms Lola D Lovegood.

Does that make you interested? If so - read on to see what the girls thought, and see who their dream cast is!

Before you read the individual reviews and their horndog rating,

the average Bad Girls Horndog rating

for this book was a massive

Reviews by the Bad Girls Team

Kimberlyn Kandie:

I kept putting off reading Unbreak Me and I could kick myself for it. You so cannot put this book down. From the first page Lexi already has you hooked wanting more and more of Asher and Maggie…

*Spoiler Alert*

Unbreak Me is a strong passionate emotional love story bringing two strangers together with their own painful secrets only to realize they are not strangers after all. They have met before on a river bank were Asher helps out Maggie thinking she had slit her wrists only to find out she’s pregnant and bleeding and rushes her to the local hospital. Asher leaves her there not knowing what happened to her.….

12 months later Asher unknowingly becomes Maggie’s date at her sister and ex-finance’s wedding reception. As Asher and Maggie dance at the reception he tells her that he knows her from somewhere but does not know where. Maggie thinks it’s just a pickup line. Soon they both will realize where they have me before.

Maggie’s story will tear at your heart strings as she tries to overcome her painful past and figure out she is worth being loved. Asher is so amazing to Maggie, teaching her that she is not what the town says she is “The Town Slut”. That what happened to her at 15 was not her fault.

On our horndog scale I give this book a very solid 8. The story line alone is unique and different from all the other triangle love stories with curves you did not see coming. Plus Asher is stunning and delicious from all aspects!!!

“I found you, sweetheart. You don’t need to hold together anymore. I found you.” ~~Asher~~

Collage by Lola D Lovegood

Mia Rose:

Wow, Where do I start with this one. Ok so Unbreak me tells the story of Maggie Thompson who has returned home after a year away to be a bridesmaid at her oldest sister Krystal's wedding. Unfortunately this isn't just another family wedding for Maggie, as her sister is marrying William, the man Maggie was set to marry a year earlier, but she ended up calling it off two days before the big day and left town. She's had no contact with William or her family since then.

Maggie has been dealing with so many demons all her life because of some bad choices she made as a teenager, it's heartbreaking. She thinks she's broken and cannot be fixed. The walls she's built around herself are going to take more than a hammer to knock down. I didn't like how everyone, including her mother, made Maggie out to be the bad guy, yet her sister is the one who moved in on her man the first chance she got. I'm sorry but where I'm from that's a line you don't cross when your sisters!!!

"When I was young, I was just one of the Thompson girls, but now the labels aren't so innocuous. Black sheep. College dropout. Slut."~ Maggie

There is a love triangle in the book between, William, Asher, and Maggie. So lets start with William, he's the ex-fiancé, who's about to marry the sister. Now I didn't mind Will, I even thought he was quite cute in places, and felt quite sorry for him, but the very fact that he was going to marry Maggie's sister didn't sit well with me at all.

"I am an addict and Maggie Thompson is my drug" ~ William

Then we move on to the lovely, sexy Asher. I was Team Asher all the way it has to be said, he was just the sweetest guy ever!!! He comes with his fair share of issues himself and has this whole mysterious thing going on. The thing I loved most about Asher, was that he didn't want to fix Maggie, he just wanted to show her what real love felt like, show her that she is a good person, and worthy of his love, and all he asked for in return was that she open up to him and not shut him out the way she did everyone else. This was no easy task for Asher, as Maggie struggled between wanting to spill her guts to him, and tell him every secret and demon she has, and not wanting him to know some of the things she'd done as a young girl just in case he can't deal with them and leaves her.

"There are plenty of gorgeous woman in this world. Maggie is more than that. She's a study in contradictions and I am an eager student." ~ Asher

I really liked that we got Will's POV as well as the leading characters Maggie and Asher. It gave us a real insight into his feelings for Maggie and the reasons he got engaged to Krystal in the first place.

The only real issues I had was that we had to wait until 67% into the book for Asher and Maggie to finally take things further in the bedroom department, and it ended up being a real anti-climax for me. There was very little detail and it was literally over within a few sentences. That was a big disappointment for me, as it had been built up from the beginning, with all the sexual flirtation and foreplay going on between them. And I also would've liked the epilogue to have been a little longer than it was.

"I like you Asher. But if we're going to keep this up, whatever this is, you need to know my life is a little fucked up. I'm fucked up." ~ Maggie

"Then we're a great match." ~ Asher

The rating I'm giving Lexi Ryan's - Unbreak me is - 8 Horndogs!!!

Shaggy Catch-Twentytwo:

Oh Man, Oh man I love when I read a book that even after I have finished reading it, I still can't stop thinking about it. This was my first Lexi Ryan book....and sure as heck wont be my last good lord that woman had me wanted to throat punch like I was in the Octagon. Maggie, oh how I wanted to smack her around at times and yell at her and pull my own hair, and scream at her "are you effin shitting me"!!!!!!!! even though, I still fell in love with her, I felt Maggie the whole entire time.

Maggie has a sordid past to say the least, she takes off for a year after canceling her wedding to William just days before the nuptials are to take place. And the douche awards go to... that's right... Her sister Krystle and William! Sweet lord I thought I was going to jail, I wanted to punch them both in their special places.

At one of the crappiest times in any woman's life in walks Asher (fans myself) Where can I get me some Asher??? So far this year my favorite book boyfriend goes to Asher!!!!!!!!

Just the amount of patience this man had dealing with Maggie at times, he is the stuff fictional legends are made of. I wanted to kiss this man all over. I don't want to give too much away but sweet lord if you want a book that will make you forget you have kids to cook and clean for.....well here ya go!!!!!! This one is for you, you won't want to put it down.

10 horndogs for me!

Kimmy Sparkles:

Let me tell you this book hooked me right away after reading
the first page. Its setting is in New Hope, Indiana and being a girl from
Indiana it was a done deal for me. Major props to my fellow Hoosier, Lexi Ryan
for keeping it close to home.

Lexi Ryan
captivates you with these characters they make you laugh and make you cry but
you will fall in love with these characters. The main girl Maggie has such a
broken soul and has dealt with so much heart ache weather you can relate or not
you feel for her and actually feel her pain. You just want her to find her
happiness in life. Then she meets Asher and oh man he is like chocolate covered
caramel, hard chocolate shell on the outside but soft a caramel on the inside.

Collage by Kimmy Sparkles

He has that bad boy appeal but that sweetheart wants nothing
more than to break down the walls around Maggie’s heart. Oh and he also will
melt your panties right off he is super sexy and things he says WOWZERS its hot
stuff. Note to self: have husband read line and whisper these things in my ear.

Not only do you love the main characters but you also love all the supporting
characters in this book from her sisters, her mother, her ex-fiancé and her
granny they make such a great cast of characters and really add to the story.
For the story itself kept me going, wondering “Oh my god what happened to this
girl” and finding out along the way just tugs at your heart strings.

On the
cover it should read WARNING YOU WILL CRY! (at least I did). I am definitely adding this one to my favorites. I give this book 10 out of 10 Horndogs. If I could
give more I would it is just that good.

Scooby Review:

So this book had me hooked from the start. It was one of those stories that I connected
with and needed to see where it went. So I started it in the afternoon and at
3am when my eyelids were winning the battle to close, I thought I would have to
finish it the next morning. As luck
would have it, I was ever determined, and I won. Unbreak me was read in less than a day!

So given I was that hooked, what was it that hooked me? More like what didn’t hook me!

Well hell, who couldn’t love Asher! He is the gorgeous rockstar with baggage (so
much baggage!) and a heart of gold, also with great perception and
understanding.

We have Maggie, the black sheep of the family who only knows
how to function by being free with her body, but keeping her mind and heart
protected. She is clearly a troubled
soul who acts as she believes is expected of her. Her life experiences form who she becomes,
but the unexpected events that unfold leaving her making decisions that affect
every aspect of her, and others lives.

We have William, Maggie’s first real love, that knows much
of her story, and cares enough to fix her…
but with Maggie continuing to break, she leaves William behind (like
literally, two days before she is due to marry him!). William finds comfort in Maggie’s sister –
but never gets over his love for Maggie.

Edit by Lola D Lovegood

With these dynamics, it is easy to see why ever page pretty
much turned itself. Maggie is so very
broken, and Asher was the perfect man to come into her life and try to help her
heal. Asher is that little bit older,
had already lived a life full of drama which helped him read between the lines
with Maggie. These two were steamy together!

I loved that not one of the main characters in this book was
perfect. They all had flaws, which made
them so much more relatable. The
situations that the story presented really unpacked how early life experiences
can have such a profound effect on who we are to become, and how we form our
relationships with our family, friends and new acquaintances. I truly believe that it was this message
that connected so deeply with me. I mean
it get it. I get Maggie, and I so wanted
her to get herself. For her to see that
she was someone who was lovable. But in
order for that to happen her story of self destruction needed to unfold.

The old mantra of “if you hear something often enough, you start
to believe it yourself” is definitely an apt fit for poor Maggie, it was such a
joy to see her story go full circle, with the aid of Asher.

My only criticism of this story was the epilogue. The end was so picture perfect that it left
me flat. There was emotional drama on
top of drama throughout this whole story, but as we got to the HEA – it was TOO
perfect! I mean I get that these
characters deserve their HEA, my goodness, Maggie so deserves her time, but my
heart had been in knots for the whole book, and then it was like…that’s it? Really? *sigh*!

Don’t get me wrong – this is a recommended read. I loved it, I felt it, I thought the author’s
tone and style was great, I loved the multiple POV's that it was told from, I
loved the intrinsic character links which all led Maggie to her
realisation. I hated characters with a
passion for their manipulation and abuse of power…. There was SO much to love about this story!

I give this 8
horndogs…had the epilogue been just as intense, I easily would have rated this
one higher! Lexi Ryan, I love your style, and I am easily a new fan!

Mimi Durham:

This is the first Lexi Ryan novel I have read & I was surprisingly delighted. It was very well written & the development of the characters were great. Lexi pulls you into the story so you become very emotionally invested in the characters & find yourself rooting them on. This is a story of a young woman learning to love herself & letting go of the past.

*Spoiler Alert*

Maggie has gone through so much in her young life. How can you make a 15 year old responsible for the actions of an adult? At this point her father disowns her. Maggie is the black sheep. After the last traumatic event in her life, she runs away at the age of 20.

She returns one year later to be a bridesmaid in her sister Krystal's wedding. Her sister is marrying Will, Maggie's ex-fiancé of a year ago. Due to a glitch, the ceremony was halted but the reception went on as planned at their mothers house. This is where Maggie meets a mysterious & awesomely sexy stranger, Asher.

Asher, the hot, tattooed, pierced, rocker who just happened to live next door to Maggie's mother. He helps her "save face" during the reception & a connection begins. Asher truly cares for Maggie. Although it is hard, he is resisting her sexual advances until she gets over being hung up on another guy. He wants more & he sees beyond her screwed up past.

Through lots of tenderness & words of wisdom, Asher is able to break down the walls that Maggie has so rigidly constructed. Asher wants Maggie without all of the baggage. Asher has issues of his own that he is working through & has to be careful. Not to mention his manipulating ex-wife to contend with.

I was so glad there was no cliffhanger. Is there a HEA? You will have to read it to find out. I promise you, it will be worth it. I just want to know where I can get my own Asher!

Happy Reading! It's an 8 Horndog read for me!

Collage by JD Nighthawk

Lola D Lovegood (aka Dragon) & JD Nighthawk:

"I'm afraid I'll shatter."

He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses along the line of the stitches running down my palm. "If you shatter, I'll find you."

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of my heart shattering because this book had to come to an end! I absolutely loved loved LOVED this book! It literally had my attention from the first damn page where you find out poor Maggie is just a bridesmaid in her sister’s wedding to her ex-fiancé. WOAH! Now that is one way to start a book! I can’t say that I’ve ever been so immediately gripped by a book. It had me in its grasp immediately and didn’t let go.

Maggie is a sad girl hiding behind a broken past and a disconcerting future. On one hand she has her ex-fiancé, Will who she never really got over, and now he’s ready to marry her sister. He’s sweet, he’s loyal and he’s always been there to fix her when she breaks down. But let’s not forget, he’s marrying her sister.

And then there’s Asher. OMG I love Asher. Asher is a bad boy ex-rocker with a heart of gold. He wants Maggie to know that it’s okay to break and he wants to help her pick up the pieces. Does Maggie want the old comfort of someone trying to fix her? Or the new fresh breath of air of someone who’s encouraging her to break so she can put back the pieces of her poorly battered beautiful soul?

They both have their stories to tell and it’s a wonderful and unpredictable read. Also, I have deep respect for an author that can make me love all three characters in a crazy love triangle! That is no easy feat and Lexi makes it seem so natural. I couldn’t get enough of this book and was crushed when it ended. I really felt for the characters and felt every emotional part of their journey.

Hot tears slip from the corners of my eyes and roll into my ears. "What if no one can fix me?"

"You don't need fixing." He gives a sad smile and wipes a tear away with his thumb. "It's like your mosaics. The beauty is already there, you just find it. Let go, sweetheart."

My bestie, Nighthawk and I felt very much the same. We instantly fell in love with this story.

Hey Nighthawk… Share a little with us would ya?

Oh lord Dragon! This book was.... Wow.

To say that 'OMG' was used a lot between the two of us while reading Unbreak Me would be an understatement.

I still can't believe that we had the exact same response to not only the beginning of the book but to the book as a whole. The characters are so well written and the story line was such a change to what I have been reading lately; I loved it!

I really enjoyed the fact that I couldn't guess what was going to happen. Some parts I could, but the writing was so good that I was second guessing myself right up to the actual event (as you could tell from the myriad of messages and freak outs sent to your pm box Dragon).

I think I have highlighted at least a paragraph on almost every single page. Asher makes my heart flutter and swell. There are so many beautiful words that come out of that man’s mouth.......sigh. I liked the way Lexi portrayed his character & the fact that we got to see him after the typical rock star bad boy behavior - he was at a very deep and introspective stage in his life. This to me was the perfect balance to Maggie's crazy life.

Collage by Lola D Lovegood

I really felt for Maggie. To me, she was a strong woman, she just had to hide that strength and deal in the only way she knew how. I can't imagine having to survive what Maggie had to live through.

Will - how can I be in love with two characters as much as I was with Will and Asher? My heart bled for Will. Lexi please, please give us more Will. I have to see him again. I have to know he will be happy.

Overall I really really liked this book. My only gripe is that I just wanted more. Just a little more to round out the stories for me. I wanted an epilogue set later down the track. The ending we were given was pretty much perfect, but I still wanted more.

We loved Unbreak Me and for us it was 9 Horndogs.

So this ends another monthly review for the team. As you can see we loved this book and think you would too!

Don't forget that Asher himself is stopping by the Bad Girls office for a chat, and we have some great questions from our friends to put to him! Be sure to check it out in the coming days! All the links you will need to get your hands on Unbreak Me and Lexi Ryan are listed below - now go and get your heart smushed in a gripping story xxxx